Metal box.



A. L. DRAKE.

METAL BOX.

APPLICATI 2!.1913. mm mm Patented. Apr. 20, 1915.

UFFlQlE.

ALSON L. DRAKE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

METAL BOX.

Application filed May 21, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALsoN L. DRAKE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metal Boxes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to metal boxes, and more particularly to a type thereof having a movable cover and adapted to contain granular matter.

The main object of the invention is to provide a metal box adapted to contain tobacco or other similar material, embodying a box body having an ordinary movable cover, in which box is provided a supplemental closure having a normally open outlet of constricted area, so positioned as to permit the convenient pouring of a portion of the contents of thebox into a pipe, cigarette paper or other receptacle.

A further object is to provide a box of this character wherein the supplemental closure may be economically attached to the box body in the assembling of the box, and may be readily moved relative to the top of the box for the purpose of facilitating the packing of the box, or the loosening of the contents thereof.

A still further object is to provide a metal box of this character wherein the cover and the supplemental closure will be simultaneously assembled in, and secured to the box by the same means, thus reducing the cost of production of the box, and simplifying its construction, both in design and in the number of operations necessary in assembling. And a still further object is to provide a box of this character wherein there will be no likelihood of the accidental escape of the contents of the box, by reason of the closure afforded by the cover, and which may be packed under sanitary conditions, as by inclosing the contents in a moisture proof wrapping.

The invention consists primarily in a metal box comprising a body, having a filling openin g therein, a movable cover adapted to close said opening, and a supplemental closure secured within said box body, said supplemental closure having a constricted opening therein through which the contents of the box may be poured; and in such other novel Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 2@, 1915.

Serial No. 768,908.

features of construction and combination of parts as are hereinafter set forth and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings :Figure 1 is a front View of a box embodying my invention, with the upper portion thereof broken away and the cover raised; Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is a View of the supplemental closure removed from the box; and Fig. 4: is a side view of the upper portion thereof showing the supplemental closure raised as in filling the box.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In the embodiment of my shown in the drawings, a indicates the box body, which is of any desired contour and has an opening therein, as the open top 6,

through which the contents are introduced to and removed from said box body, which box has a movable closure. One wall, as 0, of said box body has a recessed portion (1, part of the metal of the blank at the point of the recessed portion being formed into the sockets e of an ordinary butt or hinge. The movable cover preferably comprises an ordinary flanged cover f pivotally connected to the body portion and adapted to close the opening I) said cover having hinge loops 9 adapted to fit between alternate sockets e of the butt or hinge.

Seated within the box body a is a supplemental closure it, having at one side thereof adjacent to the wall of the box, a constricted opening 71 through which tobacco or other contents of the body are adapted to be poured. The size and dimensions of this opening may vary, although it is preferably large enough to permit the insertion of a finger for the purpose of removing this closure, either to break up the contents of the box in case of the caking thereof, or to permit the filling of the box.

To insure the proper positioning of the supplemental closure plate It, and avoid its being separated entirely from the body portion a, I hinge it to said body portion by means of hinge loops j adapted to fit between the alternate sockets e of the main butt or hinge, a construction which permits the cover 7 and plate It to be simultaneously assembled in the box by means of a single hinge pin 72. This manner of uniting the plate It with the box body a, permits thif plate to be raised as desired, the stop fillet a serving as a seat into which the edge of the plate It may enter to prevent undue strains upon the hinges.

It is a common practice when filling a box with granular tobacco, to first wrap the tobacco in oiled paper, with the twofold object of securing sanitary conditions in packing, and of retaining moisture in the tobacco. When wrapped tobacco is to be charged into a box, it is essential that the'plate h be raised at substantially right angles to the open top of the box to afford proper clearance for the charge of fixed dimensions. l/Vhen the body of a box embodying my invention has rounded sides, as shown in the accompanying drawings, it is desirable to form the plate It with a curved depressed end adjacent to the Wall, as shown at m, so that when the plate is raised, it will fit within and parallel the wall of the box at all points adjacent the hinge, thus avoiding obstruction of the mouth of the box body. After filling, this curved portion, by being pressed downwardly upon the contents of the box, may be straightened out by bending the material of said closure plate, but this is immaterial, as boxes of this character are filled but once.

The opening 2' is preferably formed by blanking out one end of the plate it so as to permit the entire contents of the box body a to slide along the side wall of said box body in passing through said opening.

The manner of assembling the box has been referred to above. In filling,-thecover f is first raised, and an instrument or the finger of the packer passed through the opening 5 and the supplemental closure it raised. The hinge of thecover f and closure 72. being coaxial, the latter will nest within the former when they are both raised, thus leaving the entire area of the opening 1) exposed. The contents having been introduced within the box body, the plate It is forced to place until its edges enter the stop fillet a, and the cover f is closed in the usual manner.

lVhen it is desired to use the contents of the box, as in filling a pipe or a cigarette paper, the cover 7 is raised, and the tobacco poured through the opening 2' of the supplemental closure, thus permitting it to be delivered within a limited space and in small volume. If the tobacco should cake, a pencil, or the finger may be pushed through the opening 2' to break the cakes into granular form, or if desired, the plate It may be raised, thus exposing the entire contents of the box.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the It is not my intention to limit the invention to the precise design of box shown in the drawings, it being apparent that it is applicable to various kinds and shapes of boxes without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent, is

1. A metal box comprising a body having a closed bottom and an open top, a movable flanged cover adapted to fit about said body and close said open top, and a supplemental removable closure positioned within said box body below said cover, said supplemental closure having a single constricted opening at one end thereof adjacent the side of said body through which the contents of the box may be poured.

2. A metal box comprising a body having a filling opening therein and a stop fillet adjacent to and below said opening, a plurality of hinge sockets on said body, a cover having a pendant flange adapted to inclose the top of said box above said stop fillet, sockets thereon adapted to cooperate with said hinge sockets upon said body, a supplemental closure, hinge sockets thereon adapted to cooperate with said hinge sockets on said body, said closure being adapted to seat within said stop fillet and having a constricted opening therein, formed by cutting away one end thereof, through which the contents of said box may be poured, the other end of said closure being curved downwardly, whereby when said supplemental closure is raised it will be parallel with the line of the box, and a hinge pin common to all of said sockets.

3. A metal box comprising a laterally elongated body having a closed bottom, and an open top, a hinged cover having a flange adapted to have a close lit with said body about said open top and a supplemental hinged closure within the open top of said body, said closure being narrower than said body whereby a constricted opening is formed adjacent the side of the box.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 22nd day of April, 1913.

ALSON L. DRAKE. Witnesses:

F. T. WENTWORTH, WILLIAM J. JAEGER.

Commissioner of latents,

Washington, D. G. 

